


The One Where Ozai Becomes Firelord Ozai

by R_o_m_a_n_o_v_a



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Analysis, Child Abuse, Child Azula (Avatar), Child Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Ozai Character Analysis, Ozai is evil, Sibling Rivalry, Zuko Angst, Zuko's life sucks, because zuko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28313415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_o_m_a_n_o_v_a/pseuds/R_o_m_a_n_o_v_a
Summary: A character analysis of Ozai - with moments starting from his childhood, till Zuko's Agni Kai
Relationships: Azula & Ozai (Avatar), Azulon & Ozai (Avatar), Iroh & Ozai (Avatar), Ozai & Ursa (Avatar), Ozai & Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 11





	The One Where Ozai Becomes Firelord Ozai

He was a firebender, first and foremost. A prince, defined by his bending, his skill. Being a prince came second – he wasn’t the crown prince, and it was unlikely he could claim the throne unless Iroh refused it or died.

He was a brilliant bender, though, a prodigy. He’d been able to maintain a flame before he could walk, create magnificent displays of fire before his seventh birthday. He would perform for Father, at his throne, and he’d receive a nod of approval before being dismissed.

Iroh, too, was a good bender, but he wasn’t as traditional in his bending. He heard his teachers whispering about his bending – how he’d experiment, how he would change his stance slightly and perform all the better for it. He’d observed his brother perform – the flames would flow from him like water. Iroh was talented, but as crown prince, he’d had more duties to devote his time to. Ozai could focus on his bending – and he gave his all.

While Iroh attended the war meetings, Ozai practised his katas. While Iroh gave orders, Ozai learnt how to create the blue flame that drained his inner flame more but was hotter, stronger, brighter. While Iroh got married to the daughter of a respected general, Ozai mastered his element.

Iroh’s son, Lu Ten, was another obstacle. The toddler with golden eyes and sparks flying off his fingers would be the crown prince if Iroh became Firelord. As Iroh devoted himself to being a father first, before a prince, Father began to invite Ozai to war meetings. It was unlikely that he would renounce his firstborn son to crown his second, but if something… unfortunate… were to happen to Iroh and his son, Ozai would at least be trained in ruling enough to take over when the time came.

War was more strategic than Ozai had expected, but he adapted quickly. The propaganda the Fire Nation sent to its people had painted it as a way to share the glory of the nation with the rest of the world. But as he learned in the meetings, the other nations still resisted. The water tribes were especially difficult to conquer – only the Northern tribe mattered, and it had equally talented benders. Besides, it would be difficult to take over a tribe surrounded by water, the element opposing their own. Fortunately, they seemed to keep to themselves even as the war raged on around them.

Earth colonies were easier to capture, and they were the first that Firelord Sozin himself had begun to conquer. Father had managed to continue Grandfather’s legacy – he’d taken over most of the earth colonies, taking the benders prisoner and taxing the non-benders. The airbenders had been eradicated years ago – Father’s work, shortly after he and Iroh were born. Now the war effort mainly focused on capturing the remaining earth colonies and preventing rebellions within the Fire Nation – and trying to break into Ba Sing Se, the one place that could turn the war around.

When Ozai turned nineteen, his father found him a wife as well – Ursa, a direct descendent of Avatar Roku. She and her family were talented firebenders, and her bloodline would ensure that any children they had would be equally talented and exceptional. Ozai accepted, and within months, Ursa was expecting with their first child.

Iroh, on the other hand, lost his wife to sickness. They were brothers, but first and foremost, he was an obstacle in Ozai’s path to the throne, so he had little sympathy to spare. Lu Ten was nine years old, and an equally exceptional bender – one who bended with non-traditional moves, and who bended as though the fire was a part of him. Now without Iroh’s wife, it was only the two of them that stood in his way, with no potential for any future obstacles.

Ursa named their first child – a son. Zuko, she called him. He had brilliant gold eyes, the mark of one with incredible potential for firebending. He had Roku’s chin and reminded him of Iroh more than himself.

Iroh was leading a siege on Ba Sing Se, the only place still harbouring war refugees, the impenetrable city that would win the war if it fell. At war meetings, Iroh insisted on minimizing casualties, which frustrated Ozai to no end. Iroh was soft. If he would simply do what it took to win the war and accept that casualties were necessary, they would have won by now. But Father humoured him. Maybe once the siege failed and Ozai could show that he was right all along, Father would make him crown prince instead.

Zuko was a disappointment. Lu Ten was far more skilled, even at two years old. Zuko could barely control the sparks he gave off, his flames were small and flickered, he was clumsy in his stances and impatient. When he presented his son to Father, Zuko did not receive the same nods of approval Ozai did. Ursa refused to let Zuko train more than two hours a day, and Ozai couldn’t contain his frustration at his son’s slow progress and his wife’s stubbornness.

When his daughter was born, with gold eyes but features more like himself, like her Grandfather Azulon, he realized that this could be his chance to show Father that at least one of his children could be better than Iroh’s child. He named her Azula, after Father, and sparks danced across her skin before she could even crawl.

Azula, he quickly realized, was simply a better bender than her brother. Funny how history repeated – first himself, a better bender than Iroh by far, and now Azula, far better than her older sibling. Admittedly, Iroh did breathe flames in a way that puzzled the master firebenders of the Fire Nation. But Ozai could create lightning, and he was certain Iroh could not.

Azula was talented, a prodigy, and he taught her how to hold flames in her cupped hands before she turned one. She could create arcs of fire at two. Surpassed the brother in talent at four. Zuko was a disappointment, he would play with swords and sit at that darned turtleduck pond for hours while his sister trained and devoted herself to firebending. His teachers struggled to teach him more advanced moves, tried to coerce flames from him, and yet he stumbled and slipped over the simplest katas.

Zuko was eight and Azula was six when the siege failed. Lu Ten was a powerful bender, and an exceptional one ever since he and Iroh had gone on that trip to slay the last dragon. But he had failed when it had counted and chosen to defend a handful of firebenders from the earth colony than escape. He had heard that Lu Ten had survived the initial injury but had died from it a day later, as the Dragon of the West pulled back his division to treat his son. After his death, Iroh returned home, having failed in the siege, and with a broken spirit.

This was his chance, Ozai realized. First, he would have to prove that his bloodline was worthy. Zuko certainly wasn’t, but Azula could create impressive displays of firebending. By allowing her to perform before Father, and proposing his idea afterwards, he stood a greater chance of succeeding.

Of course, it didn’t go according to plan, because Zuko had insisted on showing off his mediocre skills and had once again failed. Father dismissed them, and Ozai proposed his idea – only to be immediately shot down. For daring to suggest that he renounce Ozai for the loss of Lu Ten, Father said, he would have to sacrifice his own firstborn child so he may know the loss.

Realising the throne wouldn’t be his any time soon was jarring, but losing his son wasn’t a terrible prospect, not strategically. There was still the chance Iroh may refuse the throne, he was always soft, and his spirit was broken. Or that Iroh would die. When Ozai became Firelord, Zuko would automatically become crown prince, and Ozai would have to find a way to renounce him and crown Azula – a difficult task, as the people would turn against him unless he presented a valid reason. This was an opportunity. With Zuko out of the way, Azula would be crown princess.

That too, didn’t work the way he had planned. He had not intended on Ursa finding out, Ursa was always partial to Zuko and took care of him the way he did for Azula. Azula had heard what Father had said and taunted Zuko, causing Ursa to overhear and force the story out of her. In the middle of the night, Ursa had killed Father and stopped by Ozai’s chambers with a threat – if he killed Zuko, she would ensure the entire world knew what had happened to him. The guards arrived, but Ursa had already fled, and it didn’t take much to forge the documents naming himself as Firelord. Getting rid of Zuko could wait.

He’d withdrawn the troops from Ba Sing Se – it was impossible now, after a failed siege, as they had patched up their defences and the Dai Li were stronger than their own forces. Instead, it was wiser to focus on the earth colonies, and overtaking them before attempting to overthrow the water tribes. As Firelord, he couldn’t devote as much time as he used to for training Azula, but she carried on her training herself – learning to manipulate lightning, and learning of war strategy at fourteen. Zuko was naïve and reckless still, and Ozai left him to his own devices – though he suspected Iroh had taken him under his wing.

Then Iroh had allowed Zuko into a war meeting, and Ozai seethed. Even Azula did not attend these meetings – he would not be able to justify allowing the princess in before the crown prince. Zuko was still under the impression he would claim the throne one day, but Ozai only needed a reason to renounce him. He could not kill his son for fear of Ursa’s threat, but for the slightest disobedience, he could disown him. And when Zuko spoke up for the 41st division, the way Iroh had always insisted on saving the weak, the way Lu Ten had insisted on dying for the unworthy, Ozai realized he had his reason. The stupid boy had agreed to an Agni Kai, the way Ozai knew he would – the child was too proud to refuse.

Ozai had hoped Zuko would fight if only to prove that no son of his would be as soft as Iroh and his son. But when he knelt, and grovelled, and _cried_ , the shame and anger overcame Ozai. No prince, no child of his, could ever act so weak, especially in front of the entire nation. If Zuko had fought, he would simply have banished him, but now he grabbed his throat and pressed down on his eye, hand ablaze.

“You will learn respect,” he growled through gritted teeth, “and suffering will be your teacher.”

Zuko screamed and wailed pathetically. Ozai only felt anger at the weakness of Ursa’s son. When Zuko stopped writhing and went boneless, he dropped the newly banished prince and walked away. No doubt Iroh would insist on taking him, and he could send word later of the conditions of his banishment.

The avatar cycle had ended with Ursa’s grandfather when Grandfather Sozin left him to die. Roku existed in Zuko’s features, in his weakness. He would send Zuko to hunt for the avatar, an impossible mission, but he knew Ursa had still believed the Avatar would return. Once the terms of the banishment were made public, she may be appeased by conditions that she thought to be possible.

When Zuko, still unconscious, had been hauled onto a ship with Iroh and a few of his underperforming men, Ozai watched it sail with relief. Everything he had worked for had tied up perfectly. The Avatar was gone, had been gone for a century. Ursa was no longer around to contradict him, he was Firelord, and Azula was in line for the throne. Nothing could be better.

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my buddy who introduced me to Avatar and puts up with my analysis of characters for hours.
> 
> This is my first Avatar fic so y'all, please let me know how I did, and if you think it's better to end it here or if I should put up another chapter till the end of s3


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